Battery powered portable devices such as remote controls, mobile phones, cordless phone handsets, PDAs, Web tablets, e-books, etc., frequently employ backlighting techniques to illuminate keys, activate LCD screens, etc., as is well known in the art. In order to conserve battery power, such devices may only energize the backlighting circuitry for a predetermined period of time after a user interacts with a device input means, e.g., by pressing a key, touching a touch screen surface, or the like. Such an approach may however be perceived as user unfriendly since it requires that a user perform a possibly unnecessary interaction with the device in order to activate the illumination. Accordingly, as an alternative (or in addition to), some devices may incorporate motion, tilt, or vibration sensing means in order to respond to a user touching or handling the device generally by automatically energizing the backlighting circuitry, i.e., backlight illumination is caused without requiring an initial user interaction with the input means. Such systems however suffer from the disadvantage that background vibration or other unintentional movement of the device may trigger unwanted illumination cycles to the detriment of battery life.